The Indians announced Monday that they’ve hired DeMarlo Hale as their new bench coach.
A veteran of 15 seasons as a member of a Major League coaching staff, the 56-year-old Hale goes way back with Cleveland skipper Terry Francona. Hale served as both a base coach and bench coach under Francona while serving as a member of the Boston staff from 2006-11. He was the Red Sox’ third base coach for their World Series win in 2007.
Hale spent this past season as the Braves’ first base coach, taking over that post when Eric Young Sr. opted out of the 2020 season. Hale had initially been hired as a special assistant by general manager Alex Anthopoulos, whom he knew well from his days as a bench coach in Toronto during Anthopoulos’ tenure there.
The Indians announced on Oct. 31 that longtime bench coach Brad Mills wouldn’t return to that role in 2021. Mills, who opted out of the 2020 season, is being reassigned to a yet-undetermined role elsewhere in the organization. He’d been Cleveland’s bench coach since 2014 and had been a member of the coaching staff dating back to 2012.
Braves have a lot of off the field positions to fill…
He was filling in for Eric Young Sr. – who is presumably coming back after sitting out the condensed 2020 season. Has EY Sr. stated that he’s not coming back?
I know of an executive-type who’ll be free January 20…..few of them actually….
ATL is certifiably uninterested. lol
The Indians seem to exist just like the A’s…just good enough to be mentioned…
I’m kind of surprised Sandy didn’t get the job.
Sandy will be manager if Covid is still around and Tito can’t go.
sandy alomar does an amazing job considering what happened with tito, lack of a competent OF, plus a 60 game season on top of it, and he doesn’t get the job. blows my mind.
Sandy Alomar went back to be the first base coach. I would think Sandy will be the Indian manager when Tito retires.
I read an interview with Sandy recently, where he expressed a satisfaction with being the 1B coach. He understands the importance of that role.
I was one who wanted him as manager, when they brought Francona aboard, and believe that he will be manager one day.
I love Sandy, and for a while I wanted him to be the manager, but there were a lot of times this year (granted, in a sample of 45 games or however long Francona was out) that left me scratching my head. The series against the Cubs where they kept losing on walk offs was probably the worst. This was a weird season and he’s never been a full-time manager other than a few interim stints, but there were times in which he put pitchers into the wrong situations and didn’t always seem to work to his guys’ strengths. (The move to pull Naylor in game 2 of the playoffs was also insane, even though it took balls and ended up working out.)
He’s a great mind, and I’m glad that he’s staying with the Indians. I’m not as sure that he’s the manager long term whenever Francona steps aside, but like someone above me said, he also seems content in the role he’s at. I love him as a base coach.
Alomar is not manager material in my mind.
He’s not involved in the game,letting a lot of things slide,
His handling of the bullpen was highly questionable at times.
Apparently the rest of baseball agrees with me since he hasn’t had an interview for a top job in quite some time despite the mandatory minority inclusion dictum.
He’s a good first base coach and is responsible from the solid play the Tribe always seems to receive from it’s catchers defensively,so I hope he sticks around.
His ability to teach players about the running game, especially the lost art of stealing bases, makes him invaluable to the team. I really hope he continues in the 1B coach role for a long time, as well as a mentor to our catchers. Can’t wait to see how he can help improve Austin Hedges game.
This is pretty great. AA brought in Hale in ATL to be the 1B coach during 2020 when EY Sr chose to sit out the season. Hale managed to turn that into a bench spot for a team that unfortunately saw Francona miss some time and I believe is at high-risk, thus making his position all the more important. I hope he doesn’t have to fill in too much (since that would mean that Francona isn’t at the helm), but it’s great that by him stepping up, he’s transitioned into a great position for a standup organization/team in Cleveland. Right place, right time, right guy. Best of luck, DeMarlo!
Hale is 59, right ?
The article says he is 56 years old……
…..but DeMarlo has been around so long you would swear he is 156…..lol
That was the point of my comment, it says on his baseball reference page that he is 59.
The new “Millsie.” Great hire.
Lindor for Lux and May.